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West: who makes the playoffs?? (poll)


yave1964

which three teams WILL NOT make the playoffs?  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will MISS the playoffs out West?

    • Wild- not wild enough
      3
    • Ducks- served cold
      1
    • Sharks-Chum
      3
    • Flames- extinguished
      9
    • Kings- are dead
      4
    • Avalanche- buried in snow
      7
    • Stars- Fallen
      4
    • Blues- singing them
      11


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Did this with the Eastern Conference a week or so ago, it is even crazier out West.Image result for sharks ducks hockey fight

 

Locks: Vegas, (!) Nashville, Winnipeg. That is it, 3 teams withImage result for stars avalanche hockey fight That leaves 8 teams fighting for 5 spots. The candidates are:

 

DALLAS STARS 74 points 21 games left

SAN JOSE SHARKS 74 points 21 games left

ANAHEIM DUCKS 73 points 20 games left

MINESOTA WILD 73 points 22 games left

ST. LOUIS BLUES 72 points 21 games left

LOS ANGELES KINGS 71 points 21 games

CALGARY FLAMES 71 games 20 games left

COLORADO AVALANCHE 68 points 22 games

 

The poll question is this, which THREE miss the playoffs? Man this is a tough one.

 

I pretty much have San Jose and Anaheim in as the 2 and 3 seeds in the rugged Pacific as both have several more home games than road, Dallas as the 3 seed in the Central so it leaves 

 

Wild, Blues, Flames, Kings and Avalanche fighting for 2 spots.

 

IMHO the Avalanche are a nice feel good story coming out of nowhere to stay close but will fall short, I believe the Blues are as talented as about anyone but will fall just short and the Flames seem to be missing something up front allowing the Kings and Wild in, but please your thoughts. Unbelievably tough and crowded field, five in three out. Who misses the playoffs?

 

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Minnesota are hot right now and I say they get in.  I cannot see the Blues not making it with the lineup they have.  But time to get moving and that means tonight with a home game vs Winnipeg.  I am starting to think both of my teams should fire their coach.  I have no idea why Housely is still coaching the Sabres.  Maybe Pegula is waiting for the end of the season?  I cannot see him surviving this abomination of a season.  I know they are young but they should have been better.  The goaltending is horrible granted. Horrible.  Lehner has been decent during regulation but once you go to a shootout its all over.  He sucks. 

i will send the Sharks home and the Avalanche off that list above.  

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14 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Minnesota are hot right now and I say they get in.  I cannot see the Blues not making it with the lineup they have.  But time to get moving and that means tonight with a home game vs Winnipeg.  I am starting to think both of my teams should fire their coach.  I have no idea why Housely is still coaching the Sabres.  Maybe Pegula is waiting for the end of the season?  I cannot see him surviving this abomination of a season.  I know they are young but they should have been better.  The goaltending is horrible granted. Horrible.  Lehner has been decent during regulation but once you go to a shootout its all over.  He sucks. 

i will send the Sharks home and the Avalanche off that list above.  

Then get on there and vote!!

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Truly, this poll IS tougher than the Eastern one.

Mainly because at the bottom of the Eastern wild card race, one simply has to choose the LEAST FLAWED team.

 

Here, cases can be made for every single one of them as to why they are strong enough to get in.

Still though, fact remains 3 aren't getting in, and thus, I submitted my vote for:

 

1--Colorado Avalanche.

Nice run not too long ago, seem to have cooled off and the team seems to go as Nathan MacKinnon, Erik Johnson, and Semyon Varlamov go.  And those three have been in and out of the lineup with assorted ailments....Johnson I believe is done for the season.

They also have quite a few teams to fend off and/or leap over, sport the fewest points of this group and have a whopper of a schedule to finish off the season.

As Yave said, they fall just short.

 

2--Calgary Flames. Just too inconsistent, still don't score enough while giving up more than they put in, may have some lineup depth issues, and certainly have goaltending woes with Mike Smith out.

If they can make a deadline move that bolsters their offense a bit, maybe their chances increase, but I just can't get past this team's lack of steady efforts night in, night out and I don't buy that without Mike Smith, they ride a "hot" David Rittich to contention.

Just not enough here currently.

They miss.

 

3--Minnesota Wild.

That hurt to say that.

The Wild simply have NOT been the same fast, aggressive, structured team they have been the last few seasons.

Many of their key guys have lost time due to injury and have not come back the same (Parise, Niedderreiter), and others simply are having down years compared to previous ones (Suter, Coyle, Koivu, even Dubnyk).

Granlund, Staal, and Zucker are having very nice seasons and have, at different times, kept this team afloat almost single handedly.

Alex Stalock has been better as a backup than I initially gave him credit for. Matt Dumba has taken small steps to being a better defenseman.

 

But fact remains the Wild get tons of chances but good puck almighty, they whiff on so many of them.

Plus they take so many damned penalties (near the top of the league) while drawing so few (near the bottom? Sure seems like it).

 

No one in the Wild organization will ever admit it, but trading away D-man Marco Scandella and letting D Christian Folin walk away to the Kings has hurt this team's balance and structure as their replacements (any of Olaffsson, Reilly, and Prosser) have not been as solid as those two have been.....and that is VERY evident late in games when the team goes into a defensive shell trying to sit on a lead and the D pairings seem to play with fear of losing.

 

I want to be very wrong on this, but the Wild just barely miss as well.

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@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

WOW the Wild!!! You are lucky they don't make you turn in your Manny Fernandez Secret decoder ring for that!!

 

  Truth is I considered the Wild but I think they have enough and if in I believe they have enough to push someone in a series, provided that 1) they remain healthy and 2) Dubnyk brings it.  I agree with Colorado and Calgary but my third team is the Blues based on the goalie mess and the lack of depth on the back end.  

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I think the Sharks are going to run out of gas. Flames are playing too inconsistent. Dubnyk will keep the Wild hanging around and get them in. Avs will run out of ‘lanche. McKinnon can’t do it himself. I think the Blues will hold on. Ducks, Kings and Stars lineups are too deep not to hang on. I thought the East was a tough one. West is crazy right now.

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22 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

WOW the Wild!!! You are lucky they don't make you turn in your Manny Fernandez Secret decoder ring for that!!

 

  Truth is I considered the Wild but I think they have enough and if in I believe they have enough to push someone in a series, provided that 1) they remain healthy and 2) Dubnyk brings it.  I agree with Colorado and Calgary but my third team is the Blues based on the goalie mess and the lack of depth on the back end.  

 

Believe me Yave, I am hoping to be completely off base here.

One thing I WILL give this Minnesota team.....they play their arses off. If they fail, it's not for lack of trying...it would be for lack of not having enough and simply not finishing on the gazillions of chances they get.

And they really DO tend to be content to just try and 'hang on' when they have a lead in the 3rd, instead of pushing the play like they have in the past.

 

It's almost like, they get a 3-0 lead in the 3rd and go, "Ok, well, our defensive structure and goaltending should take care of the rest"

Problem is, their defensive structure is a shell of what it was in past seasons and Dubnyk has looked pretty mortal in net this year.

 

Again, not having Marco Scandella and Christian Folin has really hurt this team from the blue line out, and that in turn, affects the kinds of breakouts the team can get. 

Add to that Suter and Spurgeon, their top two D, have had sub par years by their standards, and this simply isn't the same fly by the seat of your pants, yet lock it down when it matters type team of yore.

 

And BTW, I do NOT have a Manny Fernandez Secret Decoder ring.........  It is a Cloak of Evasion which allows me to sneak into Xcel Energy without being detected, and it was given to me by Brian Rolston.

Jeeesh...get your facts right, man! 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm having a difficult time figuring this one... 

 

:scratcheshead:

 

I thought the :kings: Kings were a borderline team before the season started, 

before the Carter injury early on. It's good to see him back and the squad 

did a heckuva job coming back against the Wild :wild: the other night; on 

the road against a group that's tough at home--good OT game too! 

 

I want to be enthusiastic and vote for LA--and I will of course be 

partially damned if they don't make the playoffs but any Ducks or Sharks do :D --

yet to me it's just too close to call even with Carter back on the hockey saddle. 

 

The league's known for competitiveness and unpredictability given parity

but this year the West seems extra ferocious, extra tight. The Kings 

not understanding that :nhl: games actually begin in the First! period :tongue:

doesn't exactly get me singing about high hopes. However,

the comebacks / the insane third-period production, as well as

Brown and Kopitar playing salary-worthy hockey again, 

certainly does get me at least humming about said hopes. Yet I still don't know,

hence accordingly don't vote. "You folks have Quick!" Indeed we do! And he's 

one baaad mutha in the postseason. But I... Well I... What can I be sure about here? 

 

:anidea: How about this: methinks that if the Kings and Vegas

square off in the playoffs, LA takes the cake in seven. I've dug how my team has

battled those Knights: they've played them close without Jeff; won both times with him,

a goal in each such game from that bloke. That's my available surety right now. 

 

@yave1964 : Yave, you seem like a solid hockey dude. I wish I could vote rather than 

just quasi-opine/get all granny-worry/go Carnac Cleo Nostradamus on this thread. :lol: 

 

Cheers. 

 

 

 

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@thenewestlights

 

Thanks for the compliments.

 

  The team that I simply do not get is the Avalanche, I simply do not understand how they have bounced back after being so putrid last year to be a team roaring into the playoffs. MacKinnon has forced his way to Hart consideration, but man, Varly was out, he comes back, Bernier gets hurt, on defense they lost Erik Johnson and they keep chugging along with waiver wire pickups like Alt. I know Gallant has the coach of the year wrapped up for the job he has done in Vegas but Jared Bednar deserves consideration for the remarkable job he has done with that team. I seldom find myself completely surprised by a team like I have been by the Lanche this year.

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On 3/21/2018 at 4:18 AM, yave1964 said:

they lost Erik Johnson and they keep chugging along with waiver wire pickups like Alt.

 

Alt hasn't played for them yet.

 

However i think he is a good depth defenseman.

 

I wish my Flyers would have kept him and waived Brandon Manning.

 

Flyerd only have one right hand shot and that is Gudas who is a bottom pair guy.

 

I thought Sanheim and Alt would have made a better 3rd pair for the Flyers.

 

Radko seems to have lost his game.

 

Alt skates pretty good too for a 6-4 210 guy.

 

Oh i think Ron thought he could sneak hum through waivers and got caught with his pants down. Hence Oduya.

 

His dad use to be an All pro tackle for the KC Chiefs. John Alt.

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This is really hard.    I voted before looking at the current standings, @yave1964.

 

Here's my picks and why, but I like some of the arguments above.

 

1.  St. Louis -- I didn't like their chances with Tarasenko.   I like them less without.    And I don't like them having to ride Allen.  He's actually floating somewhat okay, but I don't expect that to last.    I just really don't like the culture on that team.

 

2.  Calgary -- i think they've run out of gas and I'm not sure I understand it.   Mike Smith is back from injury but doesn't seem to be the same.  They're going to need him to return to earlier season form or they're toast.   I think they're toast.

 

3.  Dallas -- This is again about goalies.   I think the Bishop thing hurts them despite Lehtonen actually playing nearly as well.  I just don't like their prospects of having to ride Lehtonen.    There's a team that shouldn't be in trouble based on the roster, but there it is.

 

 

Honorable mention:   Colorado Avalanche.   More based on current positioning and not playing terribly well.  Again, a goalie thing plus maybe not having enough fire power.   If Dallas gets in, it's St. Louis, Calgary, and Colorado out. 

 

 I think the Kings, Sharks, Ducks and Wild do just enough to get in.

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On 3/21/2018 at 2:18 AM, yave1964 said:

@thenewestlights

 

Thanks for the compliments.

 

  The team that I simply do not get is the Avalanche, I simply do not understand how they have bounced back after being so putrid last year to be a team roaring into the playoffs. MacKinnon has forced his way to Hart consideration, but man, Varly was out, he comes back, Bernier gets hurt, on defense they lost Erik Johnson and they keep chugging along with waiver wire pickups like Alt. I know Gallant has the coach of the year wrapped up for the job he has done in Vegas but Jared Bednar deserves consideration for the remarkable job he has done with that team. I seldom find myself completely surprised by a team like I have been by the Lanche this year.

 

The Avalanche, Devils, and Knights all surprised me this season. :shakeshead: 

It's not as though I'm not already bad enough at predicting stuff 

before phenomena like that gets hapnin. :lol: 

 

That's a good call about Coach of the Year. We should probably 

expect to see those two go 1, 2 in the running. But please do

see my second sentence up there. :) 

 

 

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